It could have been us there. The Princeton women's lacrosse team made a valiant run to the NCAA finals, but fell in the championship game to the first-ranked Maryland Terrapins 16-8 on Sunday.
Dartmouth's own women defeated the Tigers 16-13 in overtime back on April 22 to claim the 2000 Ivy League championship. Despite the Big Green's regular season accomplishments, Princeton had more success in the tournament and had the chance for all the glory.
After Duke ended Dartmouth's season with a 7-6 victory in the first round, the Tigers defeated the Blue Devils 9-8 in 2 overtimes. Next up was James Madison, who Princeton dispatched 15-9 in the semis to advance to the finals. Princeton was given a bye in the first round.
It wasn't in the cards for the Tigers, however, as the Terps fired off 13 goals in the second half to run off with the title. It was Maryand's sixth straight championship, making them a bona fide dynasty.
Led by tournament MVP Jen Adams, who provided the Terps with a NCAA record10 points (5 goals, 5 assists), all in the second half, Maryland overcame a 4-3 halftime deficit. Maryland came out firing in the second, scoring three goals in a five-minute span.
Maryland Head Coach Cindy Timchal didn't even need to urge her team to pick it up after halftime. They knew what they had to do.
"We really talked about what we could do in the second half, and that it was a matter of time," Timchal said. "It took awhile for us to come out [to start the game], but it showed in the second half. Really, we didn't say a lot at halftime. Deep down, they knew what they wanted to achieve. We knew there were at least 30 minutes left."
The Terps outscored the Tigers 13-4 in the second half.
In the post-game press conference, Princeton coach Chris Sailer lauded her team's effort in the first half.
"Maryland showed in the second half why they've won six (national championships) in a row. Our kids really came out strong and played a great first half. I though we were so sharp defensively to hold them to three goals in that first half, and we took advantage of some strong opportunities on offense."
Maryland's streak of six straight titles is the longest active streak of championships in NCAA women's sports. The Terps increased their winning streak to 20 games this year, and held on to the top spot in the rankings for the whole year. Their sole loss of the season came on March 5 to UNC in a 14-13 quadruple overtime thriller.
One of the Terrapins 21 wins came against Dartmouth, who fell to the Terps by a 15-8 margin on March 21.
